Sunday, May 15, 2011

Ragini MMS - Spooky, scary and taut!

"They don't know it yet. It's a threesome", says the trailers of Ragini MMS. I wonder if such a campaign was necessary, because, even without getting cheesy like this, there was scope to create an interest among the audiences before release. 

Bollywood badly needs someone who is bold to experiment on offbeat themes otherwise it runs the risk of churning out mundane stuff. Of late, there is a serious dearth of good cinema, instead, what we get to see is either a popular star cast or just fancily packaged glamor! In the midst of this, if a movie that predominantly targets urban youth and makes no bones about its bold theme comes out, it can certainly grab attention. Based partly on a real life incident, this movie, Ekta Kapoor claims, is largely a work of imagination.

Horror is also one genre in which good movies are hard to come by, either because most of them take the cliched route or because they are too loud. Ragini MMS works; it manages to occupy a space that is very niche; it succeeds in building up enough suspense that when the background score gets dramatic for effect, the viewer really feels the jolt.

The jerky camera movements (Tribhuvan Babu) remind one of Love, Sex and Dhoka. The fresh pair (Kainaz Motivala and Raj Kumar Yadav), especially their thirst for adventure exemplified by the possibility of an exclusive weekend works in the beginning of the movie. There is a parallel moral angle that runs along the length of the movie which is perhaps the distinguishing factor - kudos to the lead pair and the director for treading that line carefully. In order not to hasten the shock component, the initial encounters with the spooky third inhabitant of the bungalow only serve to prepare the viewers for what is in store.

As the movie proceeds, helplessness, anguish, mystery, incomprehension alternate in good measure and make for a heady cocktail!! Worth a watch to get the adrenaline really pumping!

PS: Watched the movie on a single screen (REX cinema) and after a long time, it was an experience that I loved. With all the rows before us almost empty and being able to hear the screams of a bunch of girls sitting behind - 80 rupees was worth every penny!

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